The Replacement
by lejardine
Summary: The war is over and Minerva has taken the position of Headmistress. Looking for her replacement for transfiguration and wanting to bring the school into the 20th Century she hires a witch formally from Salem. But what will happen when she encounters Severus? And why was she so quick to leave Salem?
1. Chapter 1

Severus woke Saturday morning, rolled out of bed, and immediately jumped in the shower. Once clean he stepped out and dried off then looked at himself in the mirror. It was amazing what less stress could do to ones health. The side of the light won the war, Voldemort was dead, and Harry was alive. And ever the genius and paranoid spy he was he was smart enough to always walk around with three vials, one of dittany, one of blood replenisher, and one of an antidote should for some reason he be bit by Nagini. One did not become a potions master for the Dark Lord and not see it as prudent to have such an antidote on hand.

But now he was stress free. It was now two months after that final battle. The wounds he got were completely healed, the dark mark had disappeared completely, and he was calmer now. Though he would still be the dour potions master of the dungeons come the next school term. As he looked in the mirror he noticed that he had put on some weight finally with no bony protrusions and didn't look so pale and sallow. Once he was freed from St. Mungos and his innocence proven Severus had set to brewing a few potions to better himself. No more jaundiced looking skin, it was now an alabaster white with a slight tan on the bits of skin that were allowed to be exposed to the summer sun.

His health had taken an all around improvement from what it was. He was even enjoying the idea of sleeping for a full night without interruption or fear for the first time in his life. He was actually thoroughly enjoying his new healthier and slightly bulkier physique (not to say he was fat but he wasn't thin either). Severus had even taken to exercise by going on long walks through the Forbidden Forest, occasionally running into the centaurs with which he had a quiet understanding.

But at the moment Severus needed to get up to breakfast and then the staff meeting. How he loathed those but as Minerva was now Headmistress she got to the point in her meetings allowing them to be much shorter than Albus'. Severus brushed his teeth and got dressed and headed up to the Great Hall in a swish of robes. It was July but the castle was still cold. He side stepped elven works repairing the castle who were fixing the battle scarred castle in record time and were doing it remarkably quietly. Severus entered through the side door and sat in his customary seat at the end of the long table. He was alone for the moment and set to quietly filling his plate and pouring himself a cup of tea. Gone were the days where he needed the caffeine of strong black coffee to get through the day.

Slowly the other staff sidled into the great Hall and took their seats saying soft good mornings to each other.

"Professor." Said Hagrid in loo of a good morning greeting.

"Hagrid." Responded Severus. They sat quietly and ate. Severus waited for everyone else to leave to go to Minerva's office before he got up himself. He strode into her office and sat in his customary seat and waited.

"I'll get right to the point as I'm sure the lot of us would like to get to our vacations. First, the castle should be fully repaired by the end of this month. Those elves are very industrious. Second, as I am now Headmistress we will be acquiring another professor of Transfiguration. She comes from The Salem school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and will be helping me revamp the curriculum here, which is in much need of some change." She said this giving Albus' portrait a side eyed glare. "As she will be helping me change up the curriculum she has given me some ideas for change that I must say are pure genius. I will pass these changes on to the rest of you." As she said this rolled scrolls were passed out to the faculty. "That will be all and I expect to see you all back by mid August."

Everyone stood and chatted amongst themselves but Severus slipped out the office and returned to his rooms. Once in his sitting room he shrugged off his robes and jacket and sat on his sofa. He unrolled the scroll and looked at the changes. The first surprised him. The housing system would change. Instead the houses were comprised of year meaning first and second years would be in Huffelpuff, third and fourth years would be in Gryffindor, fifth and sixth in Ravenclaw, and the Seventh years in Slytherin. Severus was actually impressed with this. That meant, as the head of Slytherin, he only had to deal with the eldest students.

The next change would be the introduction of honors courses that had nothing to do with NEWTS. These would allow the students to pursue the classes they are good in and potentially gain a little more knowledge and insight on what they may want to do. The list after that were simple changes until he got to the last change. An introduction of a muggle computer lab. He had questions about this but would ask this new professor when she arrived. In the meantime Severus left the parchment on his coffee table and went to his lab to start the infirmary stock for the upcoming term.


	2. Chapter 2

Itzel Holt stepped off the Hogwarts express with her beat up rucksack and steamer trunk. She looked around for a moment. The headmistress was supposed to meet her at the station.

"Ms. Holt." Itzel turned to find the headmistress coming towards her with a smile and her robes bustling around her. "I see you've arrived in one peace. How was the trip?"

"It was uneventful." She answered with a shrug of the shoulder.

"Oh, well good. Come, I must show you around. The elves will take your trunk up to your rooms for you." Her trunk was taken and Itzel was left to follow Minerva around.

"I understand that this is your first time up to Hogwarts. I'm sure this is not you first trip to Great Britain as a whole I'm sure."

"No, I've been all over the British isles. I just never went farther than Edinburgh and the Lothian's." Minerva nodded. The first place they went was a tour of Hogsmeade. Minerva made sure to introduce her to all the reputable businesses. After a brief tour of the village they walked up to Hogwarts and into the castle. Minerva gave her a quick tour of the castle and grounds.

"I'll take you to your rooms now." commented Minerva. Itzel followed behind and they stopped on the second floor in front of a large portrait of birds of prey. Itzel smiled at this. "The password is corvidae. You can change it at a later date if you want." Itzel nodded.

"Corvidae." She said and the portrait swung open soundlessly to let her in.

"I'll see you later for dinner in the Great Hall."

"Yes ma'am."

"No ma'am. I may be your superior but call me Minerva in private or around other staff and Headmistress around the students."

"Will do Minerva." She said with a smile. Minerva left and Itzel stepped into her rooms. They were bright but too garish. There was too much red and gold. With a wave of her hand she turned the walls to a nice pale gold and the stone floor to dark wood. The furniture she modernized to modern muggle furniture. But in front of her was the sitting room with a small kitchenette to her left. On her right was a wall with two doors. She walked over and opened the first door. It was a full bathroom that looked too large to be in her quarters. There was a large tub enough to fit at most three people spaciously with a showerhead over the middle of the tub, a toilet, a sink with medicine cabinet mirror and a full-length mirror beside it. The bathroom was of dark blue tile and stone. Then she turned and left the bathroom and entered the next room. It was her bedroom with a large four poster bed, armoire and a little table with mirror and bench. She noticed that her tings were already unpacked and put in their appropriate places. She then stepped out of her bedroom and walked towards the windows. From her bedroom door to the windows and then wrapping around to the right side of the fireplace in the sitting area were bookshelves that were already full of her books. The windows however over looked the great lawn down to the lake.

Satisfied with her room Itzel returned to her bedroom and took a much needed nap. After being awake for nearly twenty-four hours she decided to take a nap before dinner. She set her alarm to an hour before, removed her clothes and slipped under the sheets.

Itzel woke at five to her alarm and sat up feeling a bit discombobulated as to where she was. Within seconds she remembered where she was and got out of her bed and went for the shower. It felt nice to have the warm water cascading down her body. She let her curly dark red hair out of the messy bun it was in.

Itzel was an oddity among her peers but not so in her family. She was an only child of the firstborn. It was an odd birth order in her family where the first child born of each generation was always female. Her family was from the Caribbean but moved up to New York City just before she was born. Itzel was five foot ten inches tall with an hourglass shape and long legs. Her skin was a mahogany coloring and her eyes were bright aquamarine blue. Her skin was largely blemishless except from the growth stretch marks that were normal to most women.

After her shower Itzel chose to wear her favorite summer robes. The dress was light cotton of deep blue with gold embroidery along the bottom. It hung loosely on the arms and the skirt but hugged her curves everywhere else. Over that she wore a black sleeveless robe also of a light cotton made for the summer, all of this was brought closer to her waist with a gold belt that was solid metal but magically wrapped around her waist with laurel leaves on the ends that met at navel. She slipped on her shoes and put her hair up in a bun. She walked out of her rooms and made her way down to the Great Hall. It was there that she realized that she was one of three staff still in the castle.


	3. Chapter 3

Severus sat in the Great Hall before Minerva came and greeted him with a nod. They sat in comfortable silence and ate quietly. It was a miracle that Minerva had listened to reason from the trio after all three of them had witnessed his memories and told her of Severus' true allegiances. The first month after the final battle she had apologized profusely for trying to kill him. He had accepted her apologies but new that she had not known any better than the rest of wizarding Britain. If their roles were switched he would have probably would have done the same. She had calmed in her apologies after a while and now they got on amicably.

But the quiet of the Great hall was interrupted when the doors opened and Severus' head shot up to meet the young woman coming in. Severus, ever the gentleman, rose from his seat at the entrance of the young woman. From what he could tell she was tall and curvy. She walked with an air of confidence and strength. But given how she looked there was no reason for her not to. She had a pretty face and had ample breasts. She walked up to the table, which had been shrunk down and made circular due to the lack of staff currently in Hogwarts.

"Good evening Minerva." Said the young woman in a sultry American accent.

"Good evening Itzel." She responded. "Severus this is the new transfiguration professor. Ms. Itzel Holt." Severus shook her hand and they both sat.

"I hear you are the cause for the changes taking place."

"I only gave Minerva a few ideas." She said humbly smiling.

"Its good that there is change. The previous headmaster was…not one for change." He admitted diplomatically.

"No use being diplomatic Severus. Albus Dumbledore was our previous Headmaster and chose to use ignorance in his tenure to keep things the way he wanted. We're changing things starting this coming year."

"I heard as much. But it was not just Dumbledore but the whole of the British Wizarding ministry as I understand it."

"What's Salem like?" asked Severus. He liked the sound of her voice. And so far as he could tell the woman was intelligent.

"Well, we are taught differently as a whole in the states. I mean our wizarding education starts as soon as our magic begins to manifest, for most that's around the ages of three and four. From the start we are taught to control our magic so we have no need for wands. Of course we are taught spells as we go through schooling but as you get older not only do you use wandless magic right away but around the age of eleven you begin to learn how to use wordless magic as well. It's odd to us that you all use wands. We in the states have never used them."

"So you have schools for children under the age of eleven?"

"Yes we have pre-school for three and four year olds and then elementary school from five to ten year olds. Than they go off to the wizarding school of their choice. We don't have acceptance letters. Education is compulsory and free. Though, for some reason our muggle counterparts haven't figured that out as of yet.

"We also incorporate muggle education with wizarding education as there is no division line between the two in the states. Not to say that we are completely open but we don't have separated communities like you have here." Severus and Minerva were stunned at this.

"But don't you have to worry about Muggles finding out?"

"On occasion yes. But it's just and unspoken rule to not do magic in front of muggles. And also you would be surprised at how many muggles actually accept magic. A lot of the muggle communities are largely immigrant communities that have magic traditions where they come from. For example, my family is from the Caribbean so the line of muggle and wizarding is nonexistent."

"Oh."

"It also helps that our fashions are the same and we don't use wands so there's no distinction between wizard and muggle." Severus and Minerva looked at their robes and understood. Severus at least was a born and raised in the wizarding world so understood the differences.

"I wanted to ask you about the computer lab you suggested. How would this work?"

"Well, Minerva told me that she had the elves install power outlets and that the castle is fully up to date with electricity, correct?"

"Yes, but that still doesn't answer the question. Magic doesn't work well with muggle electronics." Commented Severus. Itzel looked at him with a cocked head.

"Yes they do. I use my computer all the time without problem while using magic on other things." It was then she understood. "This previous headmaster, Albus, was one of his things saying that muggle electronics couldn't be used in the wizarding world?"

"Yes." Answered Minerva.

"I see, nut you have the wizarding wireless as you call it, or the radio as everyone else says. That's a muggle invention." Severus paled a bit. All this time they'd been lied to.

"What else do you incorporate with wizarding education?"

"Well we give a comprehensive history of both muggle and wizarding points of view, we incorporate muggle chemistry with potions, muggle math with Arithmacy, and sports."

"Sports? What more than quidditch do you play?" asked Minerva.

"We incorporate muggle sports. When you start going to your chosen school at the age of eleven students have to join two sports every year. They could be the same sports as the year before or different ones. We believe that a strong body makes for strong and better-controlled magic. Quidditch doesn't really hone the body like let's say in my case swimming and soccer would. The broom is doing most of the work for you."

"I have to agree with her on that Minerva. I find that the students only real exercise here is going from one class to the other." Minerva understood.

"Where do you do these sports?"

"On the campus. Salem had a separate building for athletics such as swimming, soccer or football as everyone in the world says, basketball, track and field, and American football. We also had a quidditch pitch." She answered. "But in the school itself we had special classrooms for things like martial arts, ballet, and gymnastics."

"Brawn, grace and agility as well as a well rounded education. I'm impressed." Commented Severus. How he wished he had gone to Salem instead of Hogwarts.

"How big is Salem castle?" asked Minerva.

"We don't have castles in the states." She answered giggling. "Our buildings date back to the eighteenth century to the present. Castles are too large and imposing and the upkeep is just too much."

"But you must have elves?"

"Oh we do." She answered. Severus couldn't help but stare at this young woman. He wanted to know more from her and about her but before he could ask another question Minerva stood.

"I think I'm going to go give the new minister of magic an earful." She said as she walked out the Great Hall leaving the two alone.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, what exactly made you come here to teach?" asked Severus as he returned his attention to Itzel.

"I was working at Salem but I just wanted a change of scenery. I wanted a challenge." She answered. "And what better way to help Minerva bring Hogwarts and hopefully Wizarding Britain into the twentieth century."

"Thank Merlin for that." Whispered Severus. It wasn't low enough for Itzel heard him and giggled. They continued their meal in silence. Wanting something sweet to eat after dinner Itzel looked around the table and happened upon something that looked like apple cobbler and was pleased, upon first bite, to see that was in fact what it was. She placed a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and sat and ate in obviousness. She hadn't noticed Severus sitting there sipping at his tea watching her. She hadn't noticed until she finished the dessert and looked up.

"Oh, I didn't notice you were still there, sorry." Had her skin been lighter a blush would have been evident.

"It's fine. I've just never seen someone enjoy their dessert so much." He commented.

"Do you not like dessert?"

"I do, just not every night." He answered. "I'm getting big enough as it is."

"Really? You look fine to me." She said and Severus sat still looking at her. "I mean you're attractive. I don't particularly find it appealing for a man to be thin." She clarified with a sly smile. She did find him attractive. He was tall, which given her height was a must when looking for a partner. His voice was what chocolate tasted like, as there was no other comparison she could think of. He looked healthy and judging by the size of his arms, even if there was some fat there, he looked to be pretty strong physically and as far as she could tell he was very intelligent. But she waited to see if Severus would respond to her flirting.

"I…umm…thank you…" He said. She was hoping for a little bit more but she could see the faintest touch of a blush as he stood. "Good evening Itzel." He said as he turned from the table and left. Itzel now sat in the great hall frowning.

"So much for that." She whispered to herself as she stood and left. Instead of returning to her rooms she decided to roam the halls on her own. While walking she thought about her past relationships with men and how they had not lasted long because most the men she ended up wanted nothing but sex. She was growing frustrated at not finding someone who wanted her for more than her body and just before leaving Salem she finally gave up and decided to live a life alone. But one last ditch effort, hit on Severus and see what happens. And that had failed. So be it, she thought. She had come to the conclusion she wouldn't find a man worthwhile.

She roamed for what turned out to be two hours. She found herself in what seemed to be the dungeons and as she found her way to the stairwell to take her above ground she ran into Severus.

"What are you doing here?" he asked a little gruffly.

"I was roaming the castle and was occupied with my thoughts and ended up down here." She answered distractedly. "I'm going back up to my rooms now. Good night." She passed Severus and disappeared around the corner. Severus could tell she was preoccupied and left her at it. A light scan of her thoughts told him there were no ulterior motives.

For the next few days Severus would see Itzel and greet her with a nod but the banter they had her first night at Hogwarts was never replicated. He wanted to talk to her but it seemed she didn't want to be bothered so after a while he stopped trying and just greeted her in passing as she did him.

Severus thought all was well until he happened upon Itzel in the courtyard taking a sealed letter from an owl. Severus stayed in the darkest corner quietly watching her. She decided on muggle clothing of red slip ons, black jeans that hugged her curves wonderfully, and light white button up with the sleeves rolled to above her elbows. The top was a little tight and showed off her ample breasts and the shirt was unbuttoned low enough to show off her cleavage and a pendant that sat in it. He belly wasn't flat and, though he clothes fit properly, he could tell she had love handles. Her thighs touched and he was sure that her hourglass shape caused her hips taper at the thighs so she had a perfectly heart shaped backside. How he'd like to have his hands on her. As Severus was thinking about this and watching her, his thoughts were making him aroused and the physical reminder of his maleness was at attention. Thankfully his robes hid it.

But Severus was broken out of his reverie as he watched her face go from calm to angry and she crumpled up the letter and set it on fire. Severus was shocked at the sudden mood change and stepped out of the shadows quietly.

"Is something wrong? I'm sure that was something harmless and didn't need to be burned." He said with a slight smirk. Her eyes flashed to him and Severus stopped short.

"It was my ex asking for me to come back. The nerve." She growled. "Cheats on me, then leaves all the while blaming is inability to keep it in his pants on me for not putting out enough. Then has the nerve to try to ask me back." Severus could feel the anger emanating off her. There were sparks flashing from her hair hands. Severus didn't know what to do and just stood there.

Noticing his non-reaction Itzel huffed and walked past Severus without a word. He wasn't the cause of her anger but she had somehow hoped he'd say something. She walked out of the castle and decided to take a walk around the lake. The ground was wet and muddy from a bought of rain an hour earlier but she didn't care.

Her ex was her reason for departing Salem at the end of the school year. He had cheated on her with one of the other female professors. Itzel and her ex kept their relationship under raps from the students but, of course, the other faculty knew. So for him to cheat on her with a member of the faculty was a stab in the back she would not abide by. So she sent out her resume to other wizarding schools and jumped at the first to answer back. She handed in her resignation and was gone the next day without a word to anyone else.

Itzel finally came to a stop when she found herself in the spot where she started and sat on the grass and looked out over the lake. The walk around the lake had helped her calm down and now she was contemplative. In the letter her ex had mentioned that the witch he slept with had changed her mind and also left Salem to pursue better prospects. _Serves him right_, she thought to herself with a rueful grin. Just then she heard rustling.

"May I ask what that grin is about?" asked Minerva. Itzel proceeded to fill her in as Minerva configured a boulder into a comfortable seat.

"He dug his own grave." Commented Minerva. "So is that the reason you left Salem?"

"Yes. I couldn't continue in that kind of environment, especially when the other staff knew and didn't bother to inform me. I had to find out by going to his office and finding her spread eagle on his desk and his ass out and pants around his knees." Minerva shook her head.

"Men are such idiots."

"I've come to realize that. At this point I give up." Minerva looked down at her replacement. She had noticed that She and Severus were cold even though they seemed to get on quite well during her first dinner. She wondered if that was a one-time thing or if something happened.

"Has something happened between you and Severus?" Asked Minerva. Itzel looked up at her.

"No, why?"

"You two seemed to get on quite well during your first dinner from what I saw before I left."

"Oh." Responded Itzel. Minerva knew instantly there was more to that oh.

"Ms. Holt, what happened?" she asked authoritatively. Itzel was going to deny again but then realized there was no harm in Minerva knowing.

"I was eating dessert rather heartily and Severus noticed. I asked him if he liked dessert and he answered yes but not every night as he thought he was gaining too much weight. I commented that he looked quite attractive. He didn't say anything after that and left. I was rebuffed so I just left him alone." Minerva nodded in understanding. From doing a background check into Itzel's past she noticed that the young woman had no family and was on her own. She was an only child. Her parents had died before the age of fifteen and thus became a ward of the school. The only ward of the school. There was nothing about relationships in her file but from what Itzel had told her a few minutes before her relationships did not last long.

"Severus is a very prideful being so he doesn't take kindly to compliments all the time." Itzel nodded in understanding. She looked up to the sky then stood.

"It looks like it's going to rain again. Maybe we should go back inside." Minerva took that as Itzel not wanting to talk anymore and watched the young woman walk back into the castle.

"How much of that did you hear Severus?" Asked Minerva. After being his professor and colleague Minerva could always feel his magic.

"All of it." He answered as he stepped out from behind a tree. Minerva stood and fixed her robes before glaring at him. "You should be mindful of others privacy Severus. We're no longer in wartime so there is no reason to spy on anyone." She admonished him. "But now that you know, what do you plan on doing?" she asked. Severus looked away towards the castle and without answering bid Minerva "good day" and left. Minerva shook her head. This man was an idiot and couldn't see a good thing coming to him unless it was fully splayed out for him to inspect.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later Itzel sat in the library quietly reading. It was pouring outside and the temperature had dropped. So when walking around the castle she wore a jumper. It was cooler outside but Hogwarts seemed to be even colder inside.

"After all that repair work they couldn't put on a decent climate charm?" she said to herself.

"It would interfere with the other charms." She heard Severus voice coming from her left and he was walking towards her with a few books in his arms. He stopped just beside her looking down. "What are you reading?"

"It's a muggle book, Sleeping Beauty."

"A child's fairy tale? I thought you'd have outgrown that."

"Its not the fairy tale you know and this is not something I would give to a child to read." She commented. Though she was rereading the Anne Rice book that she read when she was in high school. Severus arched an eyebrow but nothing more was said. Itzel was putting the book away in her satchel and about to stand when Severus stopped her from walking away.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?" he asked. His face was neutral when asking. Itzel turned and looked at him for a moment weighing whether she should or not. But she had no real reason not to.

"I…yes. When and where?" She noticed Severus relax just a bit.

"Seven tonight in my chambers?"

"I'll see you there." She gave him a small smile before turning and leaving the library. Severus stood still and watched her walk away. Her hips swayed as she walked and the satchel she had thrown over her shoulder bounced against her perfectly rounded behind, how he wanted to run his hands over her curves.

Severus could feel himself getting aroused and looked around before letting himself get hard and tent his pants. Quickly he returned the books he had and swept out of the library down to his quarters. Severus threw off his robes and jacket and kicked off his boots and went to his room and lay down. He undid his pants and grabbed his cock and jerked himself to completion spilling his seed on his shirt and stomach. For a moment he lay there spent and messy before a wave of his hand cleaned up the mess, but he remained laying there, cock out, on his back and let sleep over take him.

Severus woke a little while later when he heard banging on his door. He looked to his clock it was a few minutes after seven. Severus fixed himself up and put on his boots before opening the door. Itzel stood there in a short black dress, dark red flats and wool knit jumper. She looked a little put out so Severus stepped aside and let her in. She stopped a moment before turning to him.

"I'm sorry," he said looking at her, "I took a nap and woke later than expected." Itzel nodded in understanding he did look like he just woke up. Severus motioned for her to sit on the sofa. He threw a few logs into the fireplace and lit the fire. She was probably cold from standing there for so long and his rooms were cold. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked as he turned to face her. The light of the fire shown beautifully on her skin and Severus couldn't help but stare.

"What do you have?"

"Firewhiskey, wine, tea and coffee."

"Wine sounds good." Severus stood and went to the kitchen grabbing two wine glasses and the bottle of red he had in the fridge. He returned to the sitting area to find that she had slipped off her shoes and had her feet under her.

"Are you cold?" he asked as he poured the wine.

"A little but the fire is helping." Severus handed her a glass and held his. They clinked their glasses and took a sip. Severus watched as she swallowed the red liquid. He head slightly upturned revealed the soft skin of her neck. He wanted to nuzzle her there and kiss her. But he needed to clear his mind and pay attention to her as a whole. He looked away and took another sip before turning himself to her again.

"How did they teach students in the states to use wandless magic?" he asked. This should distract him.

"Well we just don't impede small children by giving them a wand. We let them explore their power. When they're around eight we teach them the harness their power through a kind of meditation. We sit with them one on one. Some times this is done with an educator or sometimes with the child's parents. We get them to feel that power to find it within themselves. I know this sounds cheap but when you close your eyes and relax you can actually see your power as a stream of light. The color varies from person to person though.

"From that we help them guide that stream to various parts of their bodies which allows them more control of themselves and their power. As they grow older they are taught how to control it more and more until it becomes completely natural to, lets say, fly." Severus cocked an eyebrow.

"Fly?"

"Yes. My parents taught me how to do it though their methods were a little arcane at best."

"How so?"

"It involved my father dropping be from the third story until the instinct and the power kicked in to survive. My mother was at ground level prepared to stop me from going splat. But it worked."

"Hmm…sounds similar to how I was taught." He commented. "Its not a normal thing to learn how to fly."

"No, its not. Usually there is a much safer way of learning. Salem has a special pool area that has the pool filled with foam blocks so that if the students don't catch themselves they fall on something soft. Though their ability to fly isn't as strong as mine would be. They didn't have the fear of death put in them because they knew they'd be safe if the didn't fly."

"How many times did they drop you before you got it?" asked Severus. Neither had realized that they had turned their bodies to face each other and were slowly moving closer.

"It took four times before it kicked in. You?"

"It took six times but there was no soft landing should I fail. Many time I hit the ground and hurt myself but there was always someone to heal me until I finally flew." Itzel didn't know if it was his parents that taught him or the death eaters but that was a truly painful way to learn. They both sipped at their wine.

"Will the students of Hogwarts learn how to use wandless magic?" he asked

"Yes, the DADA professor will be teaching them. Though the first years will have a more extensive teaching of it."

"Maybe we could teach them to fly." Said Severus with a smirk.

"You offering?"

"No!" he answered smiling. He wouldn't take on more than what was necessary. Itzel smiled as well and finished the last dregs of wine before grabbing the wine glass and pouring Severus and herself another glass. It was then that Severus got up and took her by the hand to the kitchen. He could have used a house elf to whip up something but he liked cooking and it would be nice to see how well of a cook she was.

And so they set to making a dish of pasta, a large steak cut up into small chunks and kale. Severus was about to start before he was nudged out the way and Itzel took over. For a moment he made to complain until he noticed what she was doing. She put olive oil in the pan with a little brown sugar. When the oil was hot enough she put in the beef and the smell that accosted Severus' nose was intoxicating. He decided right then to let her continue.

It didn't take long to make the meal and they took their dishes and wine to the table and sat, with Itzel to Severus' left. They continued to talk as they ate and Severus couldn't help but be awed by her cooking. The dish was appropriately seasoned and was his level of spicy. Severus once again couldn't help and stare at her. She ate with grace but he could tell she was hungry. Her lips had some of the sauce on them and he wanted to lean across and lick them until he tongue flicked out and licked her lips seductively. Itzel turned her head and looked at him and licked her lips again.

Severus couldn't hold back anymore and with the grace afforded to him leaned forward and kissed her soundly. For a moment Itzel didn't move and Severus felt her lack of response and moved away and sat down.

"I'm sorry." He said. He made to continue his apology but Itzel stopped him. She stood and moved to Severus and sat across his lap. Severus' hands moved to hold her steady as she leaned forward and kissed him. Her kiss was passionate but not fervent their lips moved slowly as if to savor one another until she pulled away to breath. She smiled at Severus who smiled back and pulled her closer.


End file.
